A Small Hop to Hawaii

My how time flies when you’re moving! I can’t believe it’s the new year already—and we’re in Hawaii. If you’ve never moved over the holidays (or with the Army), let me tell you, it’s quite the experience. I’ve never done an “overseas” move with the military before, and there’s a lot that goes with it—from figuring out how to get your vehicle to where you’re going, to planning the best way for you and your family to get there in one piece (i.e. not throwing your hubby out of the plane at 28,000 feet).

Our entire journey was quite the…um…yeah.

As you all know, we took thirty days to visit our families before we made the little hop to Hawaii. Originally, our plan was to fly out of Virginia after visiting with my family—but the Army wouldn’t pay for that, and if we paid for the tickets and got reimbursed, we would have been out a thousand bucks. So…we had to make our way back to St. Louis. There was this whole vehicle situation b/c our van was already on its way to Hawaii, so all we had was our car, which my sister in Virginia was buying. With a little give and take, we ended up taking our car to my in-laws, who then followed us to St. Louis with the plan to take the car back with them and meet up with my sister at a later date.

So, we get to St. Louis on Saturday to stay the night because our flight left at 10:25 on Sunday. At about 12:45 in the morning, my husband gets a automated phone call saying that our connecting flight to Dallas was canceled. What!? (Side note: We had to get to Hawaii on Sunday because hubby had to be at work Monday morning) We spent the next hour on the phone trying to reach American Airlines—only to find that their computers were down. Call back later.

The next morning we call again. The nice agent was able to get us on a flight to LAX and then on to Hawaii. Great! Problem? It leaves in two hours—and we’re not packed (nor have we had breakfast). Rush, rush, rush—we make it to the gate with twenty minutes to spare.

This is the first flight for all my children. They survived the four and a half hour trip to LAX with little trouble. Some fighting there at toward the end, but nothing too major. Well, except for the constant complaining about being hungry, but who could blame them. We didn’t have breakfast. Did you know that American Airlines does not serve complimentary snacks? Not even peanuts! Grrr…

When we got up above the clouds though, Kyra asked me, “Are those clouds?”

“Yes.”

A big smile crossed her face. “Where’s God?”

Then we had a five hour layover at LAX. Oh boy… During this time I discovered a huge whole in my pants, and I’m not kidding when I say huge. I was so embarrassed I wore my jacket tied around my waist. Yeah. The girls were getting antsy having to wait all that time. We made a few trips to the restroom, but mostly, while our gate was empty, I let them run around. May not have been very proper of me, but I know how energetic my kids are.

The second flight, the girls slept most of the way. Connor, however, was just fussy, fussy, fussy. I think he was getting tired of being cooped up all day. Car seat, stroller, car seat again… So everyone got to sleep, except for me. Again, they didn’t have any complimentary snacks as we flew over dinnertime. I don’t think I’m so much a fan of American Airlines.

At last, we make our decent into Hawaii and it’s dark out. How’s that for fun? We spend about an hour waiting on our ride, and finally arrive at the inn where we’re staying at like 11:30. This is when we find out that, instead of a suite like we hoped, we’re staying in an hotel room. A hotel room for up to 60 days—with 3 kids, 3 energetic kids. Yes, I’m counting Connor because he’s crawling and getting into everything.

Anyway, hubby goes to the convenience store to get us some dinner (finally!) Just as he returns to the room, the electricity on like half the island goes out. Did I ever mention my girls are afraid of the dark? *sigh* Everyone to bed…

When the electricity went out, all the lights were on, as well as the TV. Three hours later, when everyone was asleep, the power came back on—along with everything else. Yeah…I needed the whole next day to recover.

Then it rained. And rained. And rained. Rained so much at one point, the hotel started to flood and they put sandbags in front of our door. Luckily, we’ve had an afternoon or two of sun to let the kids get out a bit, and on Saturday it was just gorgeous. We got out and did some exploring. Next? The beach…if the weather holds out.

On a completely different subject. You have to check out the new blog I'm writing for with one of my blogging friends. It's a website for women about getting back to the basics of life and remembering who we are as women beyond what society says.

Encourage. Empower. Extend.